Dang, I guess I really dropped the ball in the second half of 2024. While I wasn't going to repeat what I did for 2023, I would liked to have written just a little more than I have, but I guess this year I was busy with other things. At the very least, I caught a few things to watch, and it turns out I had a lot to say about each of them, so settle in for a long one.
I'm sure at this point, there isn't much need to review a Deadpool movie. If you weren't on-board with the character by now, this movie wasn't going to change your mind. And if you were, you've probably already seen it and loved it, so a review feels kinda redundant, especially this late in the year. Still, for what it's worth, I do have some thoughts about it, largely because it's an interesting shift that certainly fairs better than the second film by actually succeeding in its emotional stakes.
The story (a typical mish-mash of ideas) basically follows Deadpool, after a failed attempt to enter the MCU, only to get a second chance at the cost of his universe, and he decides that ain't gonna work, so he busts through multiple universes to set things right only to be sent to the void with the "worst" Wolverine. From there, tons of cameos appear from various Fox- and Sony-made Marvel films, and they either team up or fight against the titular duo until they can get back to their own timeline and save their own universes. If that feels like the most fan-service-laden thing since Endgame, you'd be right, and the movie just revels in it.
However, like I said, the emotional stakes actually work. For whatever reason, Deadpool's collection of characters have somehow become endearing, and Ryan Reynolds is selling the heck out of Deadpool's desire to save them any way he can. As a consequence the film feels like a nice send off to all the non-MCU films, including showing all kinds of behind-the-scenes footage from those films during the credits. It also ends up being an interesting send-off to Hugh Jackman's version of Wolverine that might leave a better taste in the mouth then Logan did. (FWIW, I thought Logan was a good movie, just very dour and depressing.) As for Deadpool himself, he has changed slightly, partially as a consequence of some curious Disney-fication (which is gratuitously winked at), but also in an attempt to make a Deadpool that just might make sense in the MCU. Given whatever future films are planned for that continuity, having the character show up in any of them wouldn't necessarily feel out of place. I wasn't sure if that was a bridge they could cross, but they crossed it!
As I said before, most everyone already made up their minds about the movie once the trailers dropped, so I doubt any kind of recommendation (or lack thereof) from me would matter. While the first is probably still the best, I admit I enjoyed this film more than I was expecting (especially with all the easter eggs), and while I don't know how I feel about the MCU overall at this point, I can't deny it won't at least be weirder from here on out.
Oh Rings of Power, what am I to do with you? While I did enjoy parts of the first season well enough, I was hoping that they'd be fixed with this one, only to be more disappointed. Once again, there are too many story threads, some of which are poorly handled, and the editing is an exercise in giving the audience whiplash trying to balance them all. It's such a shame because the sets and costumes are on point, the cast seems to fine (when given a proper chance), and the story is largely sticking to the lore. They have all the pieces, they're just aren't putting them together very well.
The story picks up with Halbrand having been revealed as Sauron after the creation of the three elven rings. However, by convenience of the details, the ringsmith Celebrimbor doesn't know about this, so when Sauron appears to him as Annatar, the Giver of Gifts, to help him craft more rings, he's none the wiser. Meanwhile, Galadriel and Elrond keep arguing over using the rings and wondering why Celebrimbor isn't getting back to them, Adar and his Orcs get plenty of screen time in their own efforts to stop Sauron for their own reasons, Numenor goes back and forth as to whether or not its doomed (only to end up doomed), Isildur is alive and eventually makes his way to a Numenorian colony, the dwarves end up digging too deep, awakening a Balrog, Arondir is being sad and doing awesome elf fighting, and Gandalf and the pair of Harfoots continue their journey east only to find more trouble (and Tom Bombadil of all things). Once again, it's too much at once, forcing the editing to feel like it's splicing 5 different movies into one continuity.
As I've been watching this, I've begun to consider some reasons why this show is such a mess. First is of course the influence of Game of Thrones. While I have never read nor watched those, I did get the impression they were vast and complex stories with character weaving between them, and this show feels like the showrunners are trying to fit Tolkien's lore into that kind of mold, and it's just not working. Not only do you have episodes that barely feel like they're making progress, but characters often feel like they're being moved mechanically to set up things we already see coming. Another factor is that Amazon Prime bought 5 seasons for this, and I wonder if they decided their story should go across all five seasons. While that's not a bad idea, I can't help but feel that the writers were locked into how much progress they could make each episode, and so they have to contrive things to fill out the run time. (I imagine once all 5 seasons are out, fan edits will flood the torrent sites and streaming platforms.)
However, I do recognize there are good things going on. The scenes with Annatar and Celebrimbor are great, as the former does such a great job of using subtlety to manipulate the latter, and Disa (Durin's wife) continues to be the best part of the show. Unfortunately, the disparate parts just don't line up well. While the set up for the Dark Wizard of the East is interesting, it feels so unrelated to everything else, and the inclusion of Tom Bombadil is such a massive "checking off a box" move. And then there's the elephant in the room: I already know where the story goes, and it's not a happy ending. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about watching three more seasons, but I will still watch them, as I'm more-or-less invested now. So I guess look forward to me giving more mixed reviews on those future seasons.
After Violent Night promised a great time only to be kinda (but not completely) disappointing, I was a little more hesitant going into this one. Of course, considering the cast, I admit my expectations were set pretty well, as most Dwayne Johnson films seem to settle in a groove that understand how to be cool without losing the fun of what's going on (like Skyscraper). And what we have here is not great, but still pretty fun.
The basic gist of what's going on is that the writers have taken a bunch of Santa-based Christmas lore and given it the MCU treatment to make it more slick and epic. Santa's sleigh, styled more like a sports car mashed up with Iron Man's suite, is pulled massive reindeer. Santa himself has a massive security detail called Enforcement Logistics and Fortification (or ELF, for short), headed up by Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) as his head bodyguard who is planning on retiring after this Christmas. And there's a SHIELD-like organization called Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (or MORA) in charge of making sure all the mythological creatures like Santa Claus keep doing what they're supposed to do. However, it's all presented completely straight, and it's kind of amazing what they get away with in terms of throw-away world-building moments.
As for the story, it's pretty basic action/thriller stuff draped in Christmas trappings to fit the theme of the film. Santa gets kidnapped, and so ELF and MORA team up to determine that a hacker and bounty hunter named Jack "the Wolf" O'Malley (Chris Evans) innocently revealed the location of Santa's super secure Christmas factory and military base, they drag him into the world of myths to get his help to track down the trail of clues to figure out who kidnapped St. Nick and why. It's not terrible and moves at a somewhat decent clip, and the special effects aren't bad either, even if they feel recycled from Ant-Man or D&D Honor Among Thieves.
Despite its gimmicks, it does have a decent emotional center to the whole thing, about the goodness associated with Christmas and how people can turn themselves around to get off the Naught List. It does get a bit cheesy, but the cast is game, especially Chris Evans who could have phoned it in, but clearly didn't. I even liked JK Simmons as Santa, which I didn't expect. So in the end, go in with your tongue in your cheek and don't expect anything great, but enjoy it as a good time that does have a bit heart buried under all the spectacle.
So that's that. Sorry for such a long article, but I guess I had a lot to say about these, even if they weren't the greatest. I do plan on pulling together some more articles, including one more for movies, and my usual end-of-year book reviews article. For what it's worth, I do have more plans for the site to include more of my own fiction writing, but that may have to wait until the beginning of next year, I think. And hopefully, I will be more productive here on the site next year in general!
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